An Assessment of student affairs preparation

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Rochester. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, 2009.Student affairs literature broadly states that student affairs practitioners should collaborate with academic affairs personnel to educate the whole student – physically, socially, emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually (American Council on Education, 1937). Position papers such as the Student Personnel Point of View and the Student Learning Imperative were commissioned by leading student affairs professional organizations to highlight the need for collaborative efforts between divisions of student affairs and academic affairs. The literature demonstrates that effective collaborations are evident in programs such as living/learning communities, extended orientations and first-year experience programs, and service-learning programs. Despite the documented importance of these collaborations, student affairs literature does not indicate whether graduate preparation programs prepare future student affairs practitioners to participate in these initiatives. The purpose of this study was to identify whether graduate preparation programs are teaching graduate students about collaborations in student learning initiatives and if so, what is being taught and how. A survey of 42 course instructors indicates that collaborative student learning initiatives are being taught. The findings suggest that course instructors are committed to perpetuating collaboration efforts between student affairs and academic affairs